Novak Palombo, Ayumi Ito, Ethan Domingo and Emilie Chen have been topped singles champions on the 2024 12/u and 14/u Junior Tour Finals in Sydney, profitable the inaugural De Minaur Junior Tour scholarships within the course of.
Sydney, NSW, Australia, 13 November 2024 | Camille Russo
Novak Palombo (VIC), Ayumi Ito (NSW), Ethan Domingo (NSW) and Emilie Chen (NSW) have been topped the singles champions on the 2024 12/u and 14/u Junior Tour Finals at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
Not solely did the winners take residence the coveted nationwide titles, however in addition they gained the inaugural De Minaur Junior Tour scholarships, awarded to the 2 winners of every age group.
READ MORE: De Minaur champions way forward for Aussie tennis forward of Junior Tour Finals
Within the 12/u women’ singles motion, third seed Ayumi Ito defeated fourth seed Emma Esenova 7-6(4) 6-1 in an nearly two-hour-long battle.
When requested the way it felt to take residence the title and the prospect to coach with top-10 Aussie Alex de Minaur, Ito stated: “It feels fairly good. I hope I don’t stuff up with Alex. He’s not the most important like me, so it’s fairly cool how he strikes actually fast, and hopefully I can do the identical.
“I believe it’s simply going to make me develop as an individual and simply encourage me in a number of other ways. I wish to be an expert tennis participant, and I believe this is among the steps to make it.”
Within the boys’ 12/u closing, high seed Novak Palombo beat second seed Aleksandr Kharkov 6-4 6-3, ending the season in Australia with out dropping any singles matches all 12 months.
Going via his thoughts within the closing moments of the match was: “end it, end it, you really need this scholarship!”
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“I’m more than happy with myself as a result of I put a lot of onerous work into this match,” Palombo shared. “I wish to find out how he [Alex] offers with crowds, everybody watching him and the way he goes in necessary moments. I used to be positively extra motivated to win due to the scholarship.”
Within the 14/u boys’ singles closing, No.2 seed seed Lucas Han wasn’t capable of defeat No.1 seed Ethan Domingo.
“I gained this title, and I get to go to Spain subsequent 12 months and practice with Alex,” Domingo stated after his 6-2 6-3 win. “Feels good. It’s simply superb, I’m tremendous excited.
“My recreation will likely be much like his recreation once I’m older, as a result of my physique gained’t be as huge, so it’ll be good to see how he trains. It’s a as soon as in a lifetime expertise coaching with a top-10 participant.”
Emilie Chen claimed the 14/u women’ singles title, defeating Ami Dalla Pozza 6-3 6-1.
When requested about De Minaur and the scholarship, Chen stated: “I can be taught lots from Alex, hopefully the coaching week will assist me and I’ll do higher within the tournaments after it, so simply hoping to get a superb lead to.
“Being a New South Wales participant, it’s fairly cool that we now have that in widespread. I see a number of his highlights, he’s working round in all places, I don’t even know the way he will get it again. It’s fairly cool to have him as an inspiration.”
Along with the 2 winners of every age group, two gamers have been additionally named the inaugural Alex De Minaur Spirit of Tennis Scholarship recipients. These have been awarded to the gamers who displayed key values and behaviours all through the match.
Queensland’s 14-year-old Lucas Han and Australian Capital Territory’s 13-year-old Piyushi Bandera have been recognised for his or her combating spirit, perspective and work ethic. The rising stars constantly displayed a excessive degree of respect to gamers, mother and father, coaches and officers, and also will obtain the prospect to coach alongside Alex and his workforce in Europe subsequent 12 months.
The 16/u and 18/u Australian Championships and Progress Sequence Masters will likely be held on the Bendigo Tennis Affiliation in Victoria from 7-15 December.
